


It Isn’t Love, It Isn’t Hate (It’s Indifference)

by seekrest



Series: All’s Well That Ends Well (to End Up With You) [1]
Category: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: (sort of), Alternate Universe - No Powers, College AU, College Student Peter Parker, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Michelle Jones is a Little Shit, Peter Parker is a Little Shit, Slow Burn, and they were ROOMMATES
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-23
Updated: 2019-09-23
Packaged: 2020-10-26 10:42:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20740904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seekrest/pseuds/seekrest
Summary: “So you’re in?”Michelle looked back to Ned Leeds, eyeing him once more. He looked like a nerd and the minute he’d opened his mouth, she was convinced of it. But nerds were quiet, kept to themselves - would most definitely not flake out on a lease three weeks before senior year.Michelle sighed, nodding her head.“Yeah, yeah, I’m in.”





	It Isn’t Love, It Isn’t Hate (It’s Indifference)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [spidermanhomecomeme](https://archiveofourown.org/users/spidermanhomecomeme/gifts), [howtosingit](https://archiveofourown.org/users/howtosingit/gifts).

> Here it is! The College AU I’ve been talking about for months. If I waited any longer for this, I felt like I was gonna scream so here we go.
> 
> Dedicated to positivelyglowing & howtosingit cause I think they’re just as excited about this as I am.

“So you’re in?”

Michelle looked back to Ned Leeds, eyeing him once more. He looked like a nerd and the minute he’d opened his mouth, she was convinced of it. But nerds were quiet, kept to themselves - would most definitely not flake out on a lease three weeks before senior year.

_ Fuck you, Alison. _

Michelle sighed, nodding her head. 

“Yeah, yeah, I’m in.” She motions for the pen Ned has in his hand, seeing his smile as he handed it over.

“Awesome, thanks Michelle. I don’t know how we could’ve covered the rent if you hadn’t agreed. Cindy was a sure thing but then her and Betty broke up and none of us wanted to live through _ that _ for a full year so it’s really kind of good luck that your roommate ditched too, I mean—“

Ned continues to ramble but Michelle’s not listening, chewing the inside of her cheek as she glanced over the lease. 

She wouldn’t exactly call it _ good luck _ that made her best friend of three years decide to fuck off and move in with her boyfriend of two months. It messed up their senior year plan - work hard and play hard for nine months before all that real world adult bullshit caught up with them.

But then Alison had met Brad - _ of course his name was fucking Brad _\- and the rest was history. 

* * *

Moving in to an on-campus apartment with a bunch of strangers was at the exact bottom of her list of things Michelle looked forward to for senior year. And yet now, huffing as she slid another box through the door, Michelle wondered if this was some kind of cosmic payback.

She knew she hadn’t always been the nicest person to Alison, even if they’d been roommates all throughout college up until this point. But they still got along well enough, enough that Michelle could deal with her quirks about the laundry and Alison put up with her weird hours. 

Now with Brad in the picture - and how quickly Alison had jumped ship - Michelle questioned whether or not she’d had it coming.

“Hey, you need a hand?” Michelle wipes her forehead with the back of her hand, glancing back to the voice behind her. 

His hair looks as if it’s been windswept, a little curly and haphazardly managed. Whoever he is has the biggest smile Michelle’s ever seen, a lightness in his eyes that she doesn’t quite understand - not for anyone within a ten-foot radius of the hell that was the on-campus apartments. 

“Yeah, I’m good. Who are you again? Parker?”

“Peter actually, Peter Parker.” 

He extends a hand out, only for it to fall to his side when Michelle doesn’t offer one back.

“Okay, no touching. Got it.”

Michelle rolled her eyes, moving forward so Peter could close the door behind them. “My hands are gross from sweat. Figured a pretty boy like you wouldn’t want this all over you.”

Peter’s eyebrows quirked, the smile on his face turning into a smirk. “Pretty boy?”

“Yeah, yeah, don’t act modest.” She gestured vaguely towards him before reaching down to pick up her box. “I know the type.”

“Type?”

“Decently tall, thinks every girl needs saving, vaguely good-looking.” Peter laughs as Michelle shifts her weight to carry the box better. 

“Sounds like you got me figured out.”

“You’d be surprised what I know, Parker.” He sighs, motioning for the box.

“It’s Peter. And come on, let me help you with that.” 

Michelle grunts under the weight of it, trying and failing to hide it as Peter looks back at her. “It’s fine, I got it.”

“You clearly don’t.”

“See? What’d I tell you. Thinks every girl needs saving. It’s the 21st century buddy, I can carry my own damn boxes.”

Peter looks exasperated before sighing, throwing his hands up. “Fine. Fine. Well, if you change your mind, just call out?”

_ I won’t,_ Michelle thinks as Peter walks past her - trying to not so subtly see which room he was in, knowing she wanted her room to be at the exact opposite of it. 

Boys like that - with wild hair, kind brown eyes, and a smile that seems too earnest to be real - were a threat, dangerous in a way that Michelle had avoided. 

She’d already made that mistake once, her break up with Harry almost six months ago still stinging in a way that bothered her. But Michelle had put a hard and fast rule never to bring a hookup home - and she had no intention of flirting with fire here. 

Of course, because the universe is out to fucking get her, Peter walks to the room right next to hers - giving a small wave before he enters and closes the door. 

Michelle sighed, the slickness of her palms making her grip on the box loosen. 

_ Fuck you, Alison. _

* * *

“Hey Michelle.”

“Hey Michelle.”

“Hey Michelle.”

Without fail - like clockwork - Peter Parker greeted her anytime he saw her. It would be annoying if it wasn’t so damn predictable, Michelle hating herself for how much she looked forward to it anytime she came home.

It’d been a month since move in, Michelle rarely seeing Betty aside from the random late night bathroom breaks and Ned being off in his own little world it seemed. Michelle knew that Betty was clearly still trying - and failing - to get over her breakup and Ned… well, she didn’t know what Ned was up to.

But Peter had been her most consistent roommate, as far as welcoming her home. 

So when Peter didn’t one day, slamming the front door as he rushed past her on the couch - Michelle noticed, glancing up curiously from her Abnormal Psych textbook.

She watched as he went straight to his bedroom, slamming that door too. His shoulders had been tense, Michelle barely catching a glimpse of the anger on his face as he rushed forward.

But then Peter didn’t come out of his room and Michelle, having read the same paragraph three times - even knowing she had a quiz the next day - could barely control her curiosity. 

It was so unlike the Peter Parker she’d come to know, happy and upbeat to an almost annoyingly degree. Everyone had shit days but if Peter did, Michelle hadn’t seem them yet. 

She puts her highlighter in her textbook, closing it before she can think better of it and sets it down on the couch - walking to Peter’s room.

Before she can knock, the door swings open - Peter stopping in surprise.

“What do you want?”

Michelle’s taken aback by the tone, immediately feeling defensive.

“I was gonna see what the fuck your problem was but clearly, you got some other shit to deal with.”

Peter sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Sorry, sorry, I’ve just…. It’s been a bad day.”

“No shit, Sherlock.” Peter lets out a sharp laugh, shaking his head as he looked back to Michelle. It’s silent for a moment too long, Michelle waiting as he tilted his head to the side, as if he was studying her.

“Wait, were you coming to check on me?”

“No. No. Just wanted to see if you wanted to go halvies on a pizza again.” 

Peter looks back at her like he doesn’t believe her, Michelle inwardly groaning at how little she believed herself. 

“Pepperoni and spinach? Like last time?” Peter leans against his door frame, Michelle studying him right back.

There’s anger in his eyes, something simmering behind the surface that Michelle doesn’t know - only to chide herself with the recognition that even with living with him for the past month, she really didn’t know Peter all that well. 

She knew he was shit at doing the dishes, never switching the place-card that she’d specifically bought for that purpose. She knew he was freakishly upbeat in the morning, Michelle having cursed him out on more than one occasion before she’d had her second cup of coffee. She knew he was smart, double majoring in mechanical engineering and physics without seemingly ever complaining about either of them. 

But Michelle didn’t really know Peter, didn’t know his personal life or what he went through. 

She doesn’t push it though, seeing that Peter - who now that she looked back at him - could see that he was almost on the verge of tears. 

“Yeah though if you try and eat one of my slices, I’m going to add in banana peppers next time just to spite you.”

Peter makes a face, Michelle laughing before she could stop it. 

“And here I thought you were trying to make me feel better.” He says, grinning.

“I’m not,” Michelle rolls her eyes, turning away from the door. “I told you. It’s dinner. Girl’s gotta eat.” 

But even as she turns away from him, grabbing her phone out of her pocket - she can feel Peter’s stare, busying herself with scrolling through her contact list before finding their favorite pizza place. 

She turns to face him, already knowing he was looking back at her - an expression on his face that she doesn’t recognize. 

“You got cash?” 

Peter just shakes his head, Michelle turning back towards the couch. “Venmo me later then.” 

As she settles back into the couch, still feeling Peter’s stare, Michelle ignores it - ignores him - and calls for the pizza anyway. 

* * *

Michelle was going to kill him. Strangulation, probably. Maybe just a good hit to the head.

She rolls over to her back, sighing as the obnoxious song plays through the walls of her bedroom.

_ Somebody once told me the world was gonna roll me, _

_ I ain’t the sharpest tool in the shed. _

She closes her eyes, willing herself for her brain to go anywhere - literally, _ anywhere _ \- than to hear this stupid song one more time.

Betty borrowed her headphones yesterday and never gave them back. Michelle hadn’t asked why, hadn’t noticed the dark circles under her eyes. 

It was midterms week and everyone was exhausted. As the song blasts through Peter’s bedroom, Michelle regrets not camping out in the library again.

She’d been pulling all nighters all week - catching a nap in between classes and at random intervals whenever she could. Tonight was supposed to be the first full night of sleep she was going to get in almost 6 days.

Betty’s request didn’t seem so random now. 

As the song continues to play, the sound of it rattling around her exhausted and aggravated brain, Michelle jumps out of bed and heads out her bedroom.

She’s outside of Peter’s door in less than 10 seconds, pounding on it like she’s lost her damn mind. As the song repeats, Michelle’s pretty sure she’s not far from it.

“PARKER. OPEN THIS DAMN DOOR.” She yells, waiting as the music stops in mid-sentence. She can hear the shuffling of paper, then his not so quiet footsteps. He opens the door, confused.

“What’s up, Michelle?”

Michelle puts a finger up. 

“Uh uh, nope. Don’t be cute with me, Parker.” Michelle leans in to the room, Peter slightly backing up in surprise. 

“Hey, what are you—“

Michelle points to the mini speaker Peter has in his room, her eyes firm and jaw clenched.

“Please, for the love of God, _ stop _ listening to All Star on repeat. The walls are thin and it’s 4am.” 

Peter’s eyes widen in innocence, hands up.

“Sorry, sorry, it just—“ He scratches the back of his neck. “It just helps me focus for some reason.”

Michelle rolls her eyes, leans back out of the doorway.

“Well, invest in some headphones like a sane person. It’s been six hours and I’m already sick of this shit. I can’t imagine how Ned and Betty feel.” 

Peter grimaces, Michelle realizing that he’d likely been completely oblivious. He was probably the smartest person Michelle knew by this point, a fact that she could begrudgingly admit - but he still seemed to act like a colossal dumbass sometimes.

“Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize to me, just… stop it, alright?” Michelle turns, heading back to her bedroom. “I need some sleep or I’m gonna lose it.” Peter nods, smirking.

“Does your brain get smart but your head get dumb?” 

Michelle pauses, turning to Peter - watching in real-time has his smirk turns into something almost like horror.

Yep. She’s going to kill him. 

* * *

Peter sighed, resenting the fact that he agreed to go to this stupid thing anyway. 

“Are you serious?”

“Serious as I’ll ever be, Parker. Now hurry up and get your ass into that costume.” 

Peter sighs, rolling his eyes - visibly and dramatically - for Michelle to catch on. She intentionally dismisses him, pointedly staring straight at him as he stripped down and put the stupid banana costume on. 

It was humiliating, having her watch him change but clearly Michelle didn’t trust him to follow through. 

It was his own damn fault, forgetting to do the dishes for the thousandth time. 

It’d been a game originally, Peter seeing just how much he could push Michelle’s buttons. No one else in the apartment seemed to care. Brant kept to herself - Peter was fairly certain she secretly had a mini-fridge in her room to avoid the arguments between Peter and Michelle - and Ned was just as much of a slob as Peter. 

But Michelle didn’t seem to mind when _ Ned _ forgot to change the stupid sticker on their dishwasher, didn’t decide _ Ned _ needed to hear her rants about cleanliness and clean energy or whatever the hell she rambled on about. 

A small voice in Peter told her that it was for a reason. One neither of them really wanted to acknowledge, dancing around each other in their small apartment. 

He’d noticed it at first when they ended up eating dinner together - splitting pizzas, take-out, and on the rare occasion that Peter was feeling adventurous - cooking dinner. It was an all-roommate invitation, they both knew that. 

But it always ended up being just Michelle and Peter. 

He’d noticed it at again, when Michelle had offered to split a pizza with him back in September - right after Peter had finally heard from Gwen again. 

Gwen - perfect, irresistible, funny Gwen - who had told Peter nearly six months ago that she needed to think, even if Peter wondered how much damn time anyone needed to think when you went to school across the country from each other - had called him up.

Peter knew he’d been an idiot, thinking that any “break” in a long-distance relationship was a recipe for disaster. But after Gwen had transferred from MIT to Stanford - wanting to be closer to her family - Peter still foolishly held on to the idea that maybe distance would make the heart go fonder. 

He should’ve known that was some bullshit. 

She hadn’t called just to officially end it, but to tell him that she was _ engaged _ \- having reconnected with her high school boyfriend and realizing - in a way that hurt Peter, no matter how gently she had tried to tell him - that she knew what she wanted. 

Peter wasn’t sure if he had wanted to marry her per se, he liked her. But the idea that Gwen had gone off and found something - or really, _ someone _ \- that she was looking for while Peter had been sitting around pining after her made him feel more miserable and awful and petty than he’d felt in years. 

Eating pizza that night with Michelle had been a nice distraction, realizing then and there just how much he liked her company. 

But then instead of facing that, facing the possibility that their animosity was just a sham for something _ more _ \- they bickered. Argued. 

Made bets. 

Hence, the banana costume. 

“Stop procrastinating, Parker. We’re going out tonight and I need to get this picture on social media for peak humiliation.” 

Peter groaned, shimmying himself into the costume. Peter would almost blush at how Michelle watched him as he put it on, having to strip down to his boxers in front of her - her gaze never leaving him. He zipped up the last of it and sighed, loudly. 

“It’s on. Fine. Are you happy?”

Michelle’s eyes gleamed, a huge smirk on her face. 

“God, you look like an idiot.” 

“Well geez, if you don’t like what I’m wearing, I can go change.” Peter says sarcastically, ignoring the way Michelle’s smirk made his stomach twist into knots. 

“Oh no. This is too perfect. Hold still.” Peter rolled his eyes again, sighing as he posed - doing the stupid pose their mascot did. 

“Do you have it?” Peter glanced back to Michelle, seeing a look of something… in her eyes. But just as quickly as it was there, it was gone.

“Yeah dumbass, I got it.” 

Peter exhaled, relieved. “Alright can I get out of this? Can we just skip the party? Let me be miserable in peace?” 

He wasn’t looking forward to the party or to making a fool of himself in front of people - even ones he didn’t know. But a bet was a bet and even if it mortified him, Peter was a man of his word. 

Michelle just laughed, Peter knowing he’d already lost.

“Not a chance.”


End file.
